David Larbalestier’s career has been all about the right stuff — finding the best materials for superconductors as a scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, teaching students as a FAMU-FSU College of Engineering professor and developing himself as a scientist at Imperial College London, where he earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in metallurgy.

Although the U.S. is a global leader in aerospace and aviation talent, there is a lag in the number of students, especially underrepresented minorities (URM), attracted to the field. A new program at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering seeks to change that.

Carl Moore, a mechanical engineering associate professor and researcher at the nation’s joint college, says, “By expanding the participation of URM students to the industry, the U.S. can maintain its competitive edge and ensure greater diversity in this essential STEM field.”

Wei Guo, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and a researcher at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).

Guo received the honor for the development and advancement of flow visualization techniques using both molecular tracers and solidified particle tracers in liquid helium and their application to the study of quantum fluid dynamics in superfluid helium-4.